Flyzone Micro B-25 “Mitchell”

Introduction

The Flyzone micro B-25 is a very detailed replica of the Heavenly Body which is one of the few remaining B-25s that are still airworthy today. With the micro B-25 Flyzone has re-created many of the small details such as a transparent cockpit, gunner positions, dual motors, panel lines which places the micro B-25 among one of the most detailed micro RTF airframes available today. Power for the micro B-25 is supplied from two small counter rotating motors. No information is provided about the type but I assume they are of the inexpensive brushed type. The airframe provides aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle control. The both rudders are controllable using a linked mechanical interface. The rudder also controls the nose wheel which is removable along with the mains for better in flight scale looks. Two versions are available, the RTF version includes everything that is required to fly where as the Tx-R assumes the modeler will provide their own radio.

Features

Impressive micro scale looks

Modeled after “Heavenly Body”

Tactic 4-channel SLT radio with built in charger

1S LiPo battery

Steerable tail wheel

No Glue assembly

Specifications

Wingspan: 21.7 in

Wing Area: 63.6 in²

Weight: 2.7-2.9 oz

Wing Loading: 6.1-6.6 oz/ft²

Length: 17.2 in

What You Get

The micro B-25 arrives in a very nice box which is typical of Flyzone products. The airframe is well packaged. This is the RTF version which also includes the SLT 4-channel transmitter which is more ‘toy-like’ than anything else but serves it purpose. If you are like me and do not really jump into a project by reading the manual, you might be left by wondering how you will charge the battery as there is no seperate charger included as in the Tx-R case. After diving into the manual in search of an answer to this question, I found that the SLT 4-channel transmitter actually contains a small hatch on the back which when opened reveals a small insert to place the battery for charging directly from the transmitter. Probably one of the nicest features of this offering in my opinion.

There are only a few components in the box, putting the B-25 together is just a matter of connecting a two wires and attaching two screws.

The wing along with the engine nacelles and three bladed propellers look very appealing. The rudder and elevator control servos are in the nose section of the fuselage. Attaching the wing to the fuselage involves making the connections between the wires coming from the wing to the fuselage and screwing the wing in using the provided screws. A note here, make sure that you thread the screws in carefully by hand to size the fuselage holes before hand. the plastic backing on the inside of the fuselage is rather fragile and if pushed out will give you trouble at the field especially if you do not have the right kind of glue handy.

The details of the B-25 are a thing to behold, probably among the best (if not the best) .

The Flight

After a very quick assembly process, the B-25 was sitting pretty on my assembly table ready for action. I took it out to the field with me awaiting a calm break in the weather for an opportune moment to get it in the air. Typically, I keep my micro airframes in the boxes they were shipped in during transport to the field. This can be also done with the B-25 but you must be willing to take the wing off every time before placing it in the box. During the course of the day at the field, we had ranging weather conditions from rather calm to slightly windy which gave us the opportunity to test out how the micro airframe can handle real world wind conditions. As expected, the micro B-25 is happiest with low to no wind in which case, it performs like a champ, almost scale like given its rather punitive size. With increased winds, the B-25 is still fun to fly but stuggles really to fly upwind. Backing off the throttle, I was able to get the B-25 to almost fly/hover in place against the headwind which was tons of fun.

The twin rudders are controlled by a single servo and linked mechanically together. The amount of throw that they provide is very small however I was surprised to find that they are extremely effective. In general, the 4-channel control was in line of my expectations from this airframe with the only exception being the roll rate. I was not really able to roll the airframe unless the roll was extremely exaggerated by pulling into a very high climb and barely making one lazy roll before having to pull hard up to counteract all the altitude that was lost during the maneuver. Overall it is not a big deal as it is a scale airframe that should not roll and be flown upright if you ask me. Besides that flying the B-25 was extremely enjoyable, more so during low wind conditions.

The flight time from the 250mAh 1S LiPo is not very long. It would be nice to have a few of these handy for a fun day at the field with the B-25. I flew the B-25 with the wheels attached and detached and mostly preferred them attached for performing runway landings. The B-25 is very easy to land with both configurations. Being very small and light, it does not really glide and must be flown in under power, but power cab be traded for altitude rather easily and touching down on the mains is a rather fulfilling task once performed nicely especially in front of a crowd.

Summary

The Flyzone B-25 in my opinion is a fantastic offering which provides great scale looks, good flight performance all for a very low price. There are two versions available, namely the RTF and Tx-R. Given today’s market pricing there is only $10 difference between the two and unless you are really tied to your brand of radio, I do not see a reason to not choose the RTF one for overall simplicity. When this airframe was released in 2016, a competing airframe was also introduced at the same time by another company. One that also provided on-board flight stabilization which is something that the Flyzone model lacks in a list of features. I cannot comment on which one is better but merely provide my opinion given that I would not trade the detailed looks of the flyzone for this feature as I do not think it requires anything else.